The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Approach \Ap*proach"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Approached; p. pr.
   & vb. n. Approaching.] [OE. approchen, aprochen, OF.
   approcher, LL. appropriare, fr. L. ad + propiare to draw
   near, prope near.]
   1. To come or go near, in place or time; to draw nigh; to
      advance nearer.
      [1913 Webster]

            Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city? --2
                                                  Sam. xi. 20.
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            But exhorting one another; and so much the more, as
            ye see the day approaching.           --Heb. x. 25.
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   2. To draw near, in a figurative sense; to make advances; to
      approximate; as, he approaches to the character of the
      ablest statesman.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Approaching \Ap*proach"ing\, n. (Hort.)
   The act of ingrafting a sprig or shoot of one tree into
   another, without cutting it from the parent stock; -- called,
   also, inarching and grafting by approach.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

approaching
    adj 1: of the relatively near future; "the approaching
           election"; "this coming Thursday"; "the forthcoming
           holidays"; "the upcoming spring fashions" [syn:
           approaching, coming(a), forthcoming, upcoming]
    n 1: the event of one object coming closer to another [syn:
         approach, approaching]
    2: the temporal property of becoming nearer in time; "the
       approach of winter" [syn: approach, approaching,
       coming]
    3: the act of drawing spatially closer to something; "the
       hunter's approach scattered the geese" [syn: approach,
       approaching, coming]